Life is changing around us so rapidly. I’m afraid my hooded red riding wrap just won’t cut it now. I am planning on doing a simple video on warping up a Saori loom in the way that requires no extra tools but it is still in the pipeline. That pipeline is an undetermined length at the moment. Mainly because I need a camera crew and he may not be available at the right time!

When our orders were closed I realised that some of our Oz Saori weaving community may have wanted to step up into warping and now might be the time. Winding, beaming and threading your own warp is a total joy [mostly] and that is something that would be nice at the moment.

A warping frame

The only equipment you really need is a warping board. This is a basically a frame with pegs in it. For years I used a sheet of chipboard with pegs in it. There are other types of efficient warping structures but a frame with pegs in it is perfect. Make sure the pegs are glued in securely because they may take some pressure and need to remain straight and strong.

Above is a Saori frame which I like very much :). The pegs here are one metre apart for easy meterage counting and there are two pegs for the weavers cross on the bottom and the top. You don’t even have to have a warping frame if you use your resourcefulness to wrap around stationary chairs and making a crossing of threads somehow, with clamps or something, near the end.

You can place your warping frame on a wall or on a chair and start winding. It will take a little while to get comfy with it all. The Saori frame set up has the big advantage of being at arms height and has five cuphooks at the top to guide the threads and gives a better tension on the threads as they don’t pull and get tangled. You can also improvise with a strong string with loops knotted along it and strung above the warping board. The cones can sit on the floor.

Yarns for warping

Threads for warping should be relatively strong. They can be textured and you can use a mix, especially for the Saori style of weaving. To test a yarn pull it until it snaps. Was the snap audible? or did the yarn just silently pull away? If the snap is audible it should be ok to use for a warp. Also avoid very fine yarns in the warp to begin with as they can run at different rates to thicker yarns and get tangled.

After you wind a warp you then prepare to thread and beam it onto your loom. I’ve cover this in my video too.

Ultimate resourcefulness

The ultimate way to beam and thread your warp is Kenzo’s threading and beaming unit. A most elegant, efficient way of creating warps. But in these times of resourcefulness and short supply of so many needs including toilet paper (which hasn’t been seen for about six weeks ), one weaver has stepped up to the challenge when she found a huge industrial 300metre roll. She used the Kenzo system to wind usable lengths onto normal cardboard tubes. She assures me that next week a very Saori creative warp will be on the system!